Keelty Towers, starring Harry Seidler's widow

THE widow of the leading modernist architect Harry Seidler has
emerged as the latest hindrance to the grand but financially
troubled plans of the Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick
Keelty, for a new national headquarters.

The Federal Government spent more than $40 million refurbishing
a building near the Australian War Memorial for the federal police
only to find it was too small. Mr Keelty plans to spend $115
million fitting out a much larger Seidler-designed building in the
heart of Canberra.

But the Edmund Barton building is on the national estate
register as "an outstanding example of the late 20th-century
International Style of architecture in Australia" and the federal
police's plans have generated concerns in architectural
circles.

Mr Seidler's widow, Penelope, and his associate Peter Hirst have
written to Parliament's public works committee saying that although
they did not object to internal alterations, they wanted more
information about the visual effect and protection of the
building's heritage values. "Of greater concern is how the external
appearance may be affected by security measures and other new works
at the ground level," they wrote.

"We were advised by [the building's owner] Stocklands that we
would work together with the architectural firm responsible for the
design to ensure that heritage and other issues were not
compromised. We have made various suggestions on preliminary
designs for this work but have not seen any drawings for some
time."

Mr Keelty told the committee security measures would include a
"transparent perimeter barrier" to control pedestrian access to
internal courtyards and bollards to stop unauthorised vehicles from
approaching the building.

Federal police executives said heritage values would be enhanced
by reintroducing some of Mr Seidler's original concepts by making
the internal courtyards more welcoming for staff.

The federal police wants to consolidate staff working in six
different Canberra buildings into a single headquarters. Its
original plan was to move into the long-vacant Anzac Park West
building near the War Memorial but discovered it would not fit the
extra staff it planned to hire.

It is paying rent for this empty building and for its existing
national headquarters in Canberra's central business district.